“So… this is your swordsmanship?” Elia asked, watching Kiz as she took a standard starting stance.
The Blood Clan’s training ground was located on the west side of the castle. It was a semi-outdoor space with various weapons on display… mostly swords.
Today, the little Princess had changed into a black, form-fitting outfit that was easy to move in. She held a slender silver Rapier with both hands.
“Stop talking. If you want to fight, then fight,” Kiz said, glaring at her.
“What’s the rush?” Elia slowly picked up a wooden training sword from the weapon rack and weighed it in her hand. “Let’s agree on the rules first. No Magic allowed.”
“I know! Do you think I’m the type of person who would cheat?”
“Who knows? You are a member of the Blood Clan, after all. Maybe you’ll suddenly turn into a bat and fly away in the middle of our fight,” Elia teased with a smile.
“You!”
Seeing that Kiz was about to turn red with rage, Elia finally said, “I’m just joking — come on!”
Kiz closed her eyes, thinking to herself: ‘Finally… finally a chance to teach this devil a lesson! I don’t believe that as a human, without magic, your speed could possibly be faster than mine, a Blood Princess!’
Immediately after, she lunged forward with a rapid strike.
However, Elia only blinked, not even moving her feet. She lightly raised the Wooden Sword and precisely parried the Princess’s Rapier.
Kiz was stunned for a moment, but she quickly flipped her wrist, turning the blade toward Elia’s flank. This change in technique was both fast and tricky; an ordinary swordsman would never have been able to react in time.
But Elia acted as if she had known the attack was coming all along. She pressed the Wooden Sword down, parrying the strike once again.
“Your swordsmanship is actually pretty good,” Elia said.
“As if I need you to tell me!” Kiz grit her teeth, and her offensive became even more aggressive.
The Rapier traced countless silver paths through the air, attacking Elia from every possible angle — thrusting, parrying, slashing, and slicing. Every strike was clean and decisive.
Yet, she couldn’t land a single hit on Elia.
Elia’s movements looked lazy, but she managed to block every attack at just the right moment. She even had enough spare time to let out a yawn.
“You… be more serious!” Kiz shouted.
“I am being serious. It’s just that your sword is too slow,” Elia said innocently.
“Slow?!”
This was the first time in Kiz’s life that anyone had called her swordsmanship slow. She was the Blood Princess! The Blood Clan was renowned for their speed! Her swordsmanship instructor had even said her speed was unrivaled among her peers!
“Yeah, slow. It’s like an old lady taking a stroll.”
“You’re the old lady!”
Kiz was completely provoked by the Saint of Biyande. She abandoned all technique and lunged directly for Elia’s heart with her maximum speed. Even if she stabbed her, she had the means to save her, so right now, she only wanted to give this woman a proper lesson!
This time, Elia finally moved.
She tilted her body slightly, and the Rapier brushed past her clothes, missing its mark. At the same time, her Wooden Sword lightly tapped Kiz’s wrist.
Kiz felt a sudden numbness in her wrist, and the Rapier flew out of her hand.
The training ground fell into a dead silence.
Kiz stared blankly at her hand, then at the sword on the ground. Elia, standing opposite her, rested the Wooden Sword on her shoulder and gave her a brilliant smile.
“Well? Are we still fighting?”
Kiz remained silent for a few seconds, and then…
“Waaaaah — !”
She cried. This wasn’t a quiet sob; she was truly wailing.
“You’re a bully! We agreed not to use Magic! You must have used some kind of Acceleration Magic! Otherwise… otherwise, how could you be so fast! Waaaaah…”
“I really didn’t use Magic. I truly just stepped aside and tapped you. That’s all!” Elia said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Impossible! How could a human have such fast reactions!”
“Because I’ve practiced before,” Elia said.
“Practiced? Practiced what?”
“Uh…” Elia was momentarily stuck for words.
This was mainly because the original owner of the body had never displayed her swordsmanship or physical capabilities in public; she usually solved everything with a single spell. But the current Elia knew exactly how strong her body was. Combined with the fact that she had practiced swordsmanship for a long time in her previous life, she was far from ordinary.
“Just… practiced. Anyway, you lost.”
At this, Kiz cried even harder. She squatted down and buried her face in her knees.
Elia felt a bit of a headache coming on. She had only been slightly serious… who knew the little Princess would be so fragile? She had no choice but to walk over to Kiz’s side, squatting down to poke her shoulder.
“Hey, stop crying.”
“Waaaaah…”
“If you keep crying, I’ll bite you.”
Those words were surprisingly effective. Kiz’s crying came to an abrupt halt. She looked up, her eyes red, and glared at Elia.
“What else can you do besides biting people!” she snapped.
“I can also tickle you. Want to try?”
Kiz: “…”
She wiped her tears, stood up, picked up the Rapier from the ground, and walked toward the weapon rack without a word.
Elia followed behind her and asked, “Are you angry?”
“No.”
“You clearly are.”
“I said I’m not!”
Kiz placed the Rapier back on the rack and turned to leave. However, Elia grabbed her by the wrist.
“Where are you going?”
“Back to my room!”
“Don’t do that. We’ve practiced for less than ten minutes. How about another round?”
“No!”
“Why not?”
Kiz shook off her hand. “You’re just playing with me!”
“I’m not. I’m being very serious,” Elia said, blinking.
“Serious, my foot! You haven’t even broken a sweat! Your breathing isn’t even labored! How is that being serious!” Kiz’s voice carried a hint of a sob again.
“That’s because you’re too weak.”
That sentence was the final straw. Kiz turned around and lunged at Elia, throwing a flurry of punches at her chest like a child.
“You jerk! Devil! Beast! All you do is bully me! I hate you! I hate you the most!”
Elia was forced back two steps by the onslaught, feeling stuck between laughter and tears. What was this? Playing the spoiled child because she couldn’t win?
Fortunately, she had the protection of her Holy Light; otherwise, her flat chest might have been hammered flat. Elia caught Kiz’s wrists and said, “Alright, alright. I was wrong.”
She even reached out to wipe the tear tracks from Kiz’s face.
“How about this? I’ll teach you a few moves. What do you say?”
Kiz looked up at her suspiciously. “…Really?”
“Really.” Elia let go of her and grabbed another Wooden Sword from the rack. “Come. I’ll slow down the movements. Watch.”
In the beginning, Elia had intended to see how the little Princess’s swordsmanship was, but it had turned into her teaching the girl instead.
For the next half an hour, the atmosphere in the training ground lightened considerably. Elia was genuinely teaching Kiz swordsmanship… or rather, teaching her how to deal with an opponent who was much faster than her. She demonstrated each move in slow motion, occasionally stopping to correct Kiz’s posture.
“Lower your wrist a bit more… right, just like that.”
“Don’t let your footwork get messy. Keep your center of gravity stable.”
“Don’t just stare at my sword, little sister. You need to watch my shoulders. When the shoulders move, it means a strike is coming.”
Kiz learned quite seriously. She was a Blood Princess, after all; though she was prone to tears, she definitely wasn’t stupid. She quickly grasped everything Elia taught her, and her ability to apply the concepts surprised Elia.
“You’re actually quite talented,” Elia said, sitting on a bench at the edge of the training ground during a break.
Sitting beside her, Kiz curled her lip. “As if I need you to tell me.”
“So you’re not even happy when I praise you?”
“…Thank you,” Kiz whispered softly.